Coffee and Snacky Food Tour with Dad: Part 3

Day 2 with my dad was also the most powerful October storm in half a century. Only a storm like that could slow us down. Barely. We started the morning parked on the sidewalk outside Cafe 504, significant because they serve Ritual alongside Blue Bottle. They use Ritual exclusively for espresso however and Blue Bottle exclusively for drip so it's not precisely comparable. We were abit disappointed with the way they did their drip coffee, a cup of hot water from the tea dispenser unceremoniously dumped onto a ceramic filter. Yes, the beans were freshly ground but hard to tell if the filter was damp, etc. Definitely not as elegant as Local 123 and far from the style of Blue Bottle themselves. The homemade (all their goods are homemade, no sourcing) strawberry lavender scone was alright for a scone, but the lavender could've been more fragrant in my opinion.
Having gotten a later start today, we were ready for something more substantial after the somewhat disappointing scones..

My dad was particularly struck by the lack of signs on the door at Bakesale Betty's. But the long line out the door in the rain gave them away. The crisp spicy perfect crust on juicy chicken cutlets made their somewhat soggy ironing board tables absolutely charming. And the warm and friendly atmosphere inside was filled with community bonding over this chicken sandwich.
Heaping bowls of crunchy cole slaw came out from the back with slivers of jalapeno, onions, fresh cabbage and a light oil-based dressing. Not using mayonnaise helped protect these sandwiches from becoming a soggy mess. Not like they were ever in any danger of that though..
Onto dinner! By 5:30pm it had stopped raining just in time for Dopo to open their doors. Of course we had to start with their salumi platter. I was a sucker for the stronger and more pungent salamis. I also think their Mortadella actually beats Boccalone, despite some of the buzz about Boccalone's Mortadella. I thought Dopo's was much more flavorful, some may say meat-y or pork-y, but I love that. I have been meaning to try this though.
The other standout was of course, Dopo's duck pate. It was a chunkier country-style pate with a whole piece of seared duck breast in the middle and the entire thing was wrapped in Speck. Absolutely phenomenal. My mouth's watering just writing about it. Perfectly seasoned and game-y in the best possible way.

When I asked our server how to choose between the pork chop or the flank steak, she said "Pork Chop!" with much enthusiasm and no hesitation. The best kind of recommendation. The host brought over our pork chop which had two bones and huuuuge, saying she got us an extra good piece since she knew we were sharing and noticed our pictures. I wonder what we would've got if we started taking notes! ;) The chops were wrapped in thick juicy sugar sweet bacon that had a spectacular crunch. The entire chop was so juicy, we cut it with our table knives. I was wondering why they didn't bring us meat knives. It's cus we didn't need them!

This picture does Dopo's pig fat and farm egg pizza NO justice. The fat was diced into big chunks, just like eating the best part of the bacon with none of that lean meaty stuff to get in the way. It was also surprisingly spicy. I believe it was a spicy red pepper tomato sauce. And the egg perfectly fried sunny side up on top. I wish I'd taken a picture of the bottom which was charred black with just the right amount of crispy. It was equally delicious for breakfast the next morning. I'd go back anytime just for this. I'll probably be there again within the week.
It was a short walk from Dopo to Lush. We walked right passed Fenton's without looking back and yes, it's all it's rumored to be. My only disappointment is they were out of both the Strawberry and the Basil I've been hearing about. But I had the coffee chip which was fantastic. Not too sugar sweet or sticky, a full slightly bitter coffee flavor. It was a perfect end to our porky meal!